Memória e emoção : explorando diferentes paradigmas experimentais

Abstract

This dissertation is composed by two empirical sections, organized as two independent scientific papers. The first paper utilized a procedure which is similar to the DRM (Deese- Roediger-McDermott), tipically related to the research in false memory. Eight sets of thematically associated pictures were selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Half of the sets were negative valenced, while the other half were positively valenced; all the sets were highly arousing. 94 undergraduate students answered to a recognition test. Negative valenced items elicited higher proportions of both true and false memories. The results demonstrate the utility of the visual DRM to the study in the false memory research field, a procedure which is still poorly used in Brazil. In the second paper we investigated the influence of contextual cues on both memory performance and response confidence levels. Sets of negative and neutral words were selected from the Brazilian version of the Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW). 35 undergraduate students answered to a recognition test, where cues indicated the likely status of the upcoming word. Valid cues heightened proportions of both hits and correct rejections, in contrast to invalid cues. We found no influence of cues validity on the response confidence levels for hits. However, invalid cues decreased confidence on correct rejections. Negative and neutral items were similarly influenced by the cues validity. The results presented in the second paper demonstrate the influence of contextual cues on memory judgments